By DAN RALEY, P-I REPORTER

Updated 10:00 pm, Monday, January 22, 2007

Oregon guard Aaron Brooks, unable to play in Thursday night's basketball game at Washington for flagrantly elbowing the Huskies' Ryan Appleby in the face during last year's Pac-10 Tournament, won't even be permitted in Edmundson Pavilion.

An Oregon spokesman said Brooks, a Seattle native and Franklin High School alumnus, is expected to watch the rivalry game with family members at an undetermined location in his hometown.

Brooks, the top scorer in the Pac-10 Conference at 18.4 points per game, considered the early leader for conference player of the year honors and the chief architect behind the Ducks' resounding 18-1 start this season, apparently didn't have the choice of joining his teammates and sitting on the bench in street clothes.

"There is no option," said Dave Hirsch, Pac-10 associate commissioner in charge of basketball. "He is not going to be in the building."

Ten months ago at the Pac-10 Tournament in Los Angeles, Brooks was hit in the chin by incidental contact with Appleby and retaliated at the other end by knocking the UW player to the ground and leaving him bloodied and in need of six stitches early in Oregon's 84-73 upset of the Huskies.

The penalty for Brooks' actions was stiff, as dictated by NCAA and league guidelines in concert with Oregon:

He was ejected immediately from that second-round game for fighting;

He was forced to miss a semifinals matchup against California the next night;

He was prevented from playing against Lehigh at home to open this season;

He was further ordered to sit out against the Huskies in his final visit to Seattle, for his own good.

Since Arizona State and USC got caught up in a similar elbow-filled encounter nearly a decade ago, the Pac-10 has mandated that all players found guilty of fighting can't play in the next road game against the opponent involved. This is to make certain that ill feelings between all combatants, and fans, have diminished.

Still, Brooks is 10 months removed from his temper outburst, his team is in the middle of a championship race and a logical question to ask is whether Oregon could have done anything to appeal and shorten the penalty phase.

"They probably could have, but they didn't," Hirsch said.

Oregon and the Pac-10 actually were in full agreement from the outset that Brooks should not play in Seattle, figuring it was the smart thing to do.

"It's for the safety of the student," Hirsch said. "We don't want to put him in harm's way."

The Ducks have chosen to move on, in more ways than one. A school official said Brooks won't be made available to Seattle reporters for interviews this week, shielding him from further discussion. Ducks coach Ernie Kent has indicated he might address the situation on the coaches' weekly conference call with media, but that is hardly a guarantee.

The night of the incident, Brooks issued a written apology to Appleby and repeated the same message in postgame interviews with Oregon reporters.

Two weeks ago, when reminded that he couldn't play in this game in Seattle, Brooks was contrite.

"You have to suffer the consequences for the mistakes you've made," he said. "I'm not complaining."

HAWES TO PLAY: Washington 7-footer Spencer Hawes, injured and forced to miss last weekend's game at Washington State, didn't practice Monday but is expected to return soon and play against Oregon.

Hawes, the Huskies' leading scorer, turned his left ankle in practice leading up to the game in Pullman, was noticeably gimpy during warm-ups and sat out the 75-47 blowout to the now 20th-ranked Cougars.